Birth Stars
Replacing the point-based character upgrade system from the beta version of The Consuming Shadow, when the player levels up one of the game's playable characters by gaining enough Experience, they will earn a Birth Star for that character. At the beginning of each new playthrough, the player can choose to place a Birth Star somewhere in the randomly generated night sky. The placement of these stars confers a bonus or bonuses to the player depending on which constellations are close by. If there is a region of overlap between two constellations, the player can place a star somewhere between them, receiving a bonus from each one. In this way, one single Birth Star might confer two or three upgrades to the player's various stats. There are eleven known constellations which can appear in the sky, though their placement is randomised and not all of the constellations will always be in view. Some characters always have a constellation in their sky, which may or may not be unique to them. Constellations The Alchemist Provides bonus effect and duration to drugs. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives a +10% effect and duration to drugs, to a maximum of +100%. This constellation is unique to and always appears in the Wizard's night sky. The Bull Provides a bonus to the player's Melee Damage. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives +40% damage to melee attacks, to a maximum of +100% (or double) melee damage. This constellation always appears in the Warrior's night sky. It is possible to get the melee damage bonus the Warrior gives you for completing his job while the player has +100% melee damage from the Bull, giving a huge melee damage bonus. The Chariot Provides a bonus to the player's car speed (default 30 mph). Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives +8 mph top speed, to a maximum of +20 mph. It is possible to get car speed upgrades through random events while the player already has a speed upgrade from the Chariot. The Crab Provides a bonus to the player's Health. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives +25 Health Points, to a maximum of +100 HP. This constellation always appears in all characters' night skies. The Emperor Provides a bonus discount on all hospital and supplies purchases. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives a +20% discount on ammo, items and hospital services, to a maximum of +70%. This constellation is unique to and always appears in the Ministry Man's night sky. The Hunter Provides a bonus to the player's maximum and starting Bullet capacity. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives a +3 increase in ammo capacity, to a maximum of +8 ammo capacity. The player starts with a full supply of 9mm bullets as the Scholar, Wizard or Ministry Man regardless of ammo capacity. The Lion Provides a bonus to the player's Sanity. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives +25 Sanity Points, to a maximum of +100 SP. This constellation always appears in all characters' night skies. The Magician Provides a bonus to the player's Random Spell Chance. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives a +3% chance to discover spells, to a maximum of +9%. This constellation always appears in the Scholar's night sky. The Priest Provides a bonus to the player's Research rate, which is how quickly the player fills the bestiary with information on the game's monsters. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives a 3% increase in the rate at which the player learns about the monsters, to a maximum of +6%. Oddly enough, this can go into decimals and isn't referred to as percentage in-game. This constellation is unique to and always appears in the Scholar's night sky. The Serpent Provides a bonus to the player's Medkit capacity. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre allows the player to carry an additional 25 HP worth of medical supplies in their kit, to a maximum of +100 capacity. The Medkit will always cost the same amount to refill at a hospital, regardless of how high its capacity is.This constellation always appears in the Wizard's night sky. The Smith Provides a bonus to the player's random chance to find equipment. Each Birth Star placed at the exact centre gives a +4% chance to discover new items, to a maximum of +9%. Trivia * The Chariot and the Hunter are the only two constellations that aren't guaranteed to appear in any of the characters' night skies. * The Warrior is the only playable character without a unique constellation. * The Emperor takes the appearance of a trilby, which is the signature attire of the character it is unique to, that being Trilby (aka: The Ministry Man).